Oil burner



Jan. l, 1924 Y 1,479,406

H. W. BRENT l OIL -BURNER l Filed Aug. l0l 1920 f1 3f @0 76 6 7 Y 35' abbonati Patented dan. l, 1924.

UNITED stares HENRY w. BRENT, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. 'v

OIL BURNER.

'Application led August 10, 1920. Serial No. 402,607.

To all tolto/nl t may concer/n.'

Be it known that I, 'HENRY W. BRENT, .a citizen ofthe VUnited States, residingat Baltimore, in the State of l\Iaryland,`have invented certain newand'useful Improvements in Oil Burners, of which the vfollowing is a specification.

This .invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inburnersv ofroil-stoves,

oil-heaters and the like, and'it has lforaleading object the improvement of the construction of .burners of .this type and the provision of novelmeans for the proper vadjustment of the .wick'soas -vto minimize the danger offire and maintain the wick, whether visible or invisible, at .such position `that there will result a desired blue flame `under normalworkingconditions,the arrangement being such .that the wick maybe adjusted 2o to the right position, .to :attain the desired resultand without necessarily requiring the inspection of the flame and by a. simple single movement ofran voperating mechanism.

The present `invention is an improvement of the oil burners disclosed in my former Patents Nos. 1,082,796, .dated lDecember 30, 1913; and 1,313,059, `dated August' L12, 1919, although the salient Vfeatures ofzthe presentinvention may be employed with other types :zc of burners without departing from the spirit `of my invention.

With the above and other objectsin view my invention consists of :the parts'and the constructions, arrangements, and .combinations of parts which I will hereinafter describe andclaim.

In .the accompanying drawing vforming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in l the several views;

Fig. l is a side elevation of a burner tube embodying my invention, showing portions broken away.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged'horizontalsection-al view on the line EZ-QO'fFig 1.

Figs. 3 and 'fl aredetails to-be referred to.

In carrying out'my'invention 'I may use the presentimprovementsin connection with the differentrtypes ofburners, either with or without the usualspreader plates, and `.whether-said burners. are Ito be z used in connection with oil-stoves, voil-heaters, or like devices; for 4present;illustratiwf: purposes I have shown my improvements as .applied to the type of burners disclosed in my aforesaid prior patents. Any :suitable flame top edge to'jthe vv-ick, it is'. ilnpos'siblei to pro- .cure kthe desired -blue Aflame.

spreader, knot-shown, maybe used if desired, in Vconjunction with my improved Atype of burner. Inthe present case, asin the prior patents mentioned, the burner tube, A, is preferably formed with yconcentric inner and outer walls, 1, 2, joined at the bottom and adapted toenclo'se between them a c ircular fiat wick A', the space between the inner and outer walls of the burner tube usually forming a font or receiver, to which oil is supplied through a connection a in the Vusual manner.

iIn the construction of the burnentube such as I have specified, the wick usually has its .lower end mounted in and Acarried by fa' thin metal casing A2, whose lower edgeis turned-up to receive the bottomof the wick; This casing is generally made of perforatedY sheet metal to allow the oilto yhave free access to the wick, the perforations'being'further employed for the reception of the pointed teeth of the usual wick raising wheel which -is mounted on a hand-operated shaft. Experience has shown, howeverythatit is extremely difiicult with the perforated oasing'and usual sharp toothed `wheel engaging the same, to uniformly or evenly raise and lower the wick, sothatthe upper 4edge of the wick is maintained -in a true level positi'on. To secure aneven flame, in devices of this character, the wick-should be adjusted to come level with the'top of the outside burner tube. Sometimes there 'is va'liigh pointor irregularity on thetop edge ofthe wick which can Vbev patted down, with the fingers or otherwise, but often these projections or irregularities are such that'the edge of Vthe .wick Vcannot be made smooth'by `the merewactof patting down so that the wick will b'e perfectly level all around, Yand in suchjcases it is oftennecessarytoremovelthe wick andat-urn the saine around in-'thetube until :the desired working lposition is obtained. Even when this is done, it not infrequently appears that the wick-does not level-upproperly to .insure the proper even tion, and ,cannot be maintained vtrue `even after: insertion, and where there-1s .an uneven Experience has :shown that much ofthe unevennessol,l

AMT

. flame and in such event it is necessaryto-*remove the oil reservoir and to disarrange `other parts. Many v'ofrthe objections noted `are'dueto the fact that the wickis not easily `insertedin,the burner tube in a=true posithe wick is due largely to the employment of the usual sharp-prong wheel and perforated sheet metal wick casing, since in raising the wick by these instrumentalities the wick seems to be caused to bind more or less on one side than the Lother and consequently to be raised and lowered unevenly and with more or less difficulty.

In the present instance I am able to overcome' the objections arising from the presence of a crooked wick especially in the oil stove, or where a true wick is of absolute necessity, as an uneven wick will not provide an even flame for baking or broiling; at the same time the uneven flame produced by the crooked wick is an element of danger and the cause of possible conflagration and injury to personsin the house or apartment. In brief, with the usual pronged wheel and perforated casing it is impossible to procure a true flame by the insertion into the burner tubes of a perfectly straight wick; in the construction I am about to describe, and where I use a positive rack-and pinion and a positive grooved guidefor the rack-bar, it is next to impossible to obtain anything but an absolutely correct or even flame and a rack-bar operating substantially without friction. -V

It is a well known fact that a straight and true wick often becomes uneven in fitting 'it into the burner and various suggestions have been offered to the public as a means forv correcting this defect, but at best t-hese means involve unclean and tedious opera.

tions and produce poor results. It is also well known in the art thatit is difficult to insert the wick when using the usual pronged wheel as much pressure is often required to get the entering part of the wick to pass the prongs on the wheel. In my experiments I have found it highly desirable to so fashion the rack-bar and the slotted tube in which it operates with a positive grooved-walled guide so that all danger of the rack binding or being deflected from its true. sliding position will be obviated Vand said rack will be freely and accurately guided in its up and down movements under all working conditions, and the wick will be uniformly raised or positioned so as tf maintain a straight and true burning top e ge.

The foregoing various objections are cured by the mechanism which I will now describe.

The outer burner tube I fashion with a depressed portion or housing, 3, which has a slot or slots, 4, in an intermediate portion for the passage of the toothed wick operating wheel, 5. Within the recess or channel formed by depressing the tube, is a rack-bar, 6, which bar is secured to the side of the usual thin metal kwick-holder, A2, but the bar is in the form of a posit-ive rack with teeth or spurs for the proper engagement of the spur teeth of the pinion with which the rack operates. The rack may be formed as a separate bar secured to the wick casing, and the teeth of the bar are supposed to be in the form of spur teeth to engage corresponding teeth on the operating pinion, the arrangement being such that the wick casing and wick may be readily raised and lowered in a true perpendicular direction without danger of the parts binding, and without any tendency of the wick being'distorted or pulled more on one side than the other so as to produce an uneven top edge and a consequent flame.

In order to uniformly guide the rack-bar in its up and down movements and to insure v this bar not binding in its guide be cause of any rearwardfor side strains put upon it by the pinion, or otherwise, I form the vertical side edges of the rack-bar with undercut or other groovesl a, and I fashion the side walls of the recess, in which the rack-bar slides with flanges or tongues Z), which are vdesigned to freely enter'the side grooves of. thev rack-bar Ywhereby any in; ward and side or lateral strain on the bar will be resisted and said bar will be maintained in its true perpendicularfposition, so that it will not be cramped or subjected to any increased friction, due to distortion, displacement or otherwise, during its movements. By. thus normally holding the rackbar in its true location, its position relatively to the wick, or wicleliolder, does notV change and hence the lwick willbe held so as to maintain its top edge true and straight.

The aforesaid rack is directly engaged by the pinion, 5, and which pinion is suitably fixed to the lower portion of the operating shaft, 7, which carries at its outer end the Y usual finger wheel, 8, whereby the pinion may be rotated to raise and lower the rackbar and the wick casing and wick. In the present case I show the shaft as being inclined and consequently vthe teeth on the rack-bar are inclined so that'they may be operatively engaged by the pinion.l If the shaft were horizontal the .teeth of the rackbar would likewise be horizontal, but I prefer the inclined shaft as any oilV Working through from the wick will be prevented from working outwardly on the portion of the shaft engaged by the hand where its presence would be an objection.

The recess or channel in the outer burner tube is open at the top so as to readily register with and admit the lower end of the rack bar, and when the wick is properly seated this opening may be closed by a plug or like part, 9, the inner surface of which will be fashioned to conform to the curva ture of the remainder of the tube.

Projecting from the surface of the outer Laveno@ burner tube, v2, are suitable flanges, .-10,`

helicalspring 16, one end of which is fixed tothe sleeve while the other end is secured to a pin, 16, on the stationary ,Hange, 10, said flange having a slot Aor opening, 18, made through it to admit the free end ofa spring-plate, 19, whichlprojeets sufficiently beyond the flange to be engaged by the lug 20,1on the'adjacentxend of thejloose'sleeve, said free end of the `spring.plate, 19, being disposed over` a projection orlug, 21, on the flange, 10, and which lug forms a stop for lthe spring plate,=as I will presently' de scribe.

In order that I may use a positive .connection between said ysleeve and the shaft, 7, I groove or slot the shaft in the ldirec- "iii tion of its'length and from a .point adjacent the serrated end ofthe sleeve `through the outerend ofthe shaft. Theportion of the shaft adjacent the serratedend of the sleeve I notch to Aform the inclined wall, CZ, and

- E in theslotor groove whichis forlnedlongitudinally of the'shaft, I slidably mountl la plate, e, the outer end of which extends through the outer lend of 'the shaft 'to a point sufficiently :beyond'the-outer surface of the finger wheelto'allow'said plate to be slid longitudinallyof the shaft; to facilitate this action the outer end of the slid-l ing plate may be provided with aknob or like engaging'element. The position ofthe knob, in or out, will also serve yas a visual indicator `of the condition 'of the interen` gaging features kat the opposite end. The inner end `of the sliding plate passes through a radial slot g formed in a collar (/which is fast on the-shaft, 7, said plate having an inclined surface, Ay", which is cle-- signed toengage the outer wall ofsaid'slot so that when the plate is pushed inwardly of the shaft, the incline, f, on the plate will ride in Contact with the wall of the slot and the inner or lower end of the plate will he forced downwardly to allow a spurv or tooth, It, on the inner end of the vplate to ride vdown the incline, (Z, or wall and bring a sinall pawl or projection, z' on said plate into engagement with one of the serrations of the annular series with which the loose sleeve, 15, is supplied, thus locking the sleeve to the plate, @,and shaft, 7, so that upon partially .rotating the `Sli-aft 'in one direction .tlirouglrthe medium of the `finger wheel'S, thefsleeve willbe rota.ted,.and .the lug 20, on the sleeve will .be moved until itengages the freefend of'theispring plate,

19, and carries the Ysame across .the width oftheslot, 18, and until :the further Inovement: of the free .end of .the spring plate is checked bythelugf21,.theextent of movey plate 19 Vsubstantially ldetermining the extent of ment ofethis vfree end `of the spring rotation of :the shaft :to the right, andthe consequent upward movement which is given the wick. During ithis rotationpf the sleeve 15 the spring 16 will be wound to a veny slight. extent. VThe pinion, 5,.and theflanges 10,;at each side thereof, as well as the lower endofitheshaft, 7 ,are encased in a housing, 25', of isuitableLform and description Vas isY customary in vburners `of .this type and as disclosedinlmy aforesaid prior patents.

lIn operating-.the devicethe sliding plate e is withdrawn :from engagement with :the loose sleeve 15, and .therwick with its casingk is inserted Vbetween the :burner tubes with the lower .endof the rackbar, 6, Vin'register with the open vtop of the slotor recess, 3, in the side of the outer tube.V As the walls of this slot or rece'ssfand'the adjacent aside walls ofthe zrack-bar are .specially formed with engaging tonguesand-grooves, these latter, form an accurate guide for the wick during its insertion-and when 4seating.; it :in the tube, as wellas during-the'up and down adjustment of the wick after the same has been'fully seated. As-soon as the lower end of the inserted rack-.bary arrives opposite the spur lwheel it will engage ltheteeth Aof the latter and rotation ofthe shaft, 7, to the left will then lower the wick casing and wick to the desired position; it being understood that the shaft, 7, may be freely turned to the left or downwardly since the shaft is not coupled to the loose sleeve 15.

rotated to the right to bring the topedge ofthe wick even `with the top ofthe burner tube. The sliding Aplate e, is then lpushed inwardly along the shaft, 7, until its-pawlend,.z',engages one of the serrations in the periphery of the sleeve, thus locking the sleeve to the shaft. Thereafter Lto set Ithe wick at the proper distance for burning the shaft 7 'is lturned vto the right or lupwardly until the lug 20 of the `sleeve is brought into contact with the adjacent free ond of the spring plate anddepressing said spring plate until it ycoin-es against the stop lug 21 `will thereby arrest and =maintained- :Thewickiwill remain in the further arotavtion of theshaft and stop the operation of lill this position, since the helical spring'l is light andthe range of movement of the lug 2O so slio'ht that no appreciable tension is placed upon the spring by the upward movement of the wick. l/Vhen the wick is to be extinguished, the shaft is turned to the left, and being free to move to the extent of a full revolution, will cause the wick to recede into the burner, extinguishing the iiame, where 4it may remain, or be moved back to burning position. During this movement the helical spring 16 is placed under slight tension, but insufficient to cause a return upward movementof the Wick.

vVhen the wick is again moved upwardly in position to be lighted, the lug 20' will abut the stop 21 as before and prevent further upward movement of the wick, insuring that the latter will again be raised only Y to proper burning distance. Y

When the wick has burned down to `the desired extent and must be re-adjusted, the

Yburner tube, the plate and sleeve are again connected, and the parts are operated as before.

The helical spring 16 is used to cause a return of the loose sleeve 15 to normal position when the sleeve is released from connection with the shaft 7, as in v'setting the wick and inserting or removing the wick, so that the sleeve will be positioned to move to the right only the distance of the opening 18 when it is again connected to the shaft.

The foregoing mechanism provides a simple means for limiting the wick raising function to only a short distance in one direction for burning purposes and provides for a more extended wick lowering action in the other direction. Such an arrangement enables me to so control the flame as to obtain the best heating results, and it pro-y vides for the free and substantially frictionless sliding motion of the rack which raises and lowers the wick casing and wick.

I-Iaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1. In an oil burner, the combination of a burner tube, a wick-holder, a rack-andpinion for operating the holder, means for operating the pinion, wick-controlling means having the capacity of positively stopping the elevation of the wick during a complete movement thereof in one direction so as to set the wick at a lixed and predetermined maximum height above the top of the burner tube, and for returning the wicx to said predetermined height after movement in the opposite direction, said wick-controlling means comprising a shaft, a sleeve loose thereon and provided with a lug, a resilient member interposed in the path of movement of said lug and movable thereby, a stop for said member adapted to limit its movement, and a sliding member on the shaft adapted to engage and disengage the sleeve to thereby connect and disconnect the latter to the shaft.

2. In an oil burner, the vcombination of a burner tube, a wick-holder, a rack-and-pinion for operating the holder, means for operating the pinion, wick-controllng means having the capacity of-positively stopping the'elevation of the wick during a complete movement thereof in one direction so as to set the wick at a fixed and predetermined maximum height above the top of the burner tube, and for resettingthe wick to said predetermined height after movement in the opposite direction, y. said wick-controlling means comprising a shaft, a sleeve loosethereon-and provided with a lug, a resilient member interposed in the path of movement of said lug and movable thereby, a stop for said member adapted to limit its movement, and a sliding member on the shaft adapted to engage and disengage the sleeve from the shaft, said sleeve having an annular series of serrations, and said sliding member having a projection adapted to engage said serrations.

3. In an oil burner, the combination of a burner tube, a wick-holder, a rack-and--pinion for operating the holder, means for operating the pinion, wick-controlling means having the capacity of positively stopping the elevation of the wick during a` complete movement thereof in one direction so as to set the wick at-a xed and predetermined maximum height above the top of the burner tube, and for resetting the wick at said predetermined height after movement in the opposite direction, said wick-controlling means comprising a shaft, a sleeve loose thereon and provided with a lug, a resilient member interposed in the path of movement of said lug and movable thereby, a stop for said member adapted to limit its movement, and a sliding member on the shaft adapted to engage and disengage the sleeve to thereby connect and disconnect the latter to the shaft, said sleeve having an annular series of serrations and said slidable member having a projection to engage the sei-rations, and having a spur or tooth with an inclined surface, said shaft being notched and the notch having an inclined surface for sliding engagement with said spur and adapted to move-the projection radially into and out of engagement with said serrations.

4. In an yoil burner, the combination of a burner tube, a wick-holder, a rack-and-pinion for operating the holder, means for operating the pinion, wick-controlling means having the capacity of positively stopping the elevation of the wick during a complete movement thereof in one direction so as toY set the Wick at a fixed and predetermined maximum height above the top of the burner tube, and for resetting the wick at said predetermined height after movementv in the opposite direction, said means comprising a sleeve normally loose on the shaft andhaving a lug, means for connecting the sleeve to the shaft and disconnecting it therefrom, a spring having one end connected to the sleeve and placed under tension when the sleeve is turned in one direction, and adapted to return the sleeve to normal position when movement of said sleeve ceases and the sleeve is released, and means in the path of and coacting with the lug on the sleeve for limiting the elevation of the Wick relatively to the burner tube.

Y 5. In an oil burner, the combination of a burner tube, a Wick-holder, a rack-and-pinion for operating the holder, means for 0perating the pinion, Wick-controlling means having the capacity of positively stopping' the elevationof the Wick during a complete movement thereof in one direction so as to set the WickV at a fixed and predetermined,

maximum height abovel the top of the burner tube, and for resetting the wick at said predetermined height after movement in the opposite direction, said means comprising a sleeve normally loose on the shaft, and having a lug, a sliding member on the kshaft extendingV beyond the outer end and thereby fixing the elevation of the Wick relatively to the top of the burner tube.

In testimony whereof I aix 1n signature.`

HENRY vv. RNT. 

